


To Fuck it Up Takes Two

by sapphicalexandra



Series: Strangers [4]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Season/Series 01, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drabble Collection, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Parabatai, Past Relationship(s), Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-09 10:56:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12274980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphicalexandra/pseuds/sapphicalexandra
Summary: Missing moments set in the 'Strangers' universe, mainly told from Jace's pov. Traces Jace and Alec's complicated (romantic) relationship throughout the years, as depicted in 'We're Not Lovers' (contains a rewriting of season 1 events as well as a new timeline).





	1. You were never a stray

**Author's Note:**

> I know y'all want the sequel to 'We're not lovers' and are probably tired of these little teasers, but right now i'm too busy with rl to write long things, so you get drabbles on s1 scenes as set in this AU, to fill the time before then. Think of the most iconic ones, which I only briefly recounted in the other fic; here i'm actually 'showing' them, probably mostly from Jace's pov since he didn't have one there.  
> I hope you'll enjoy them anyway!  
> p.s. Title from the song 'You should talk' by Fletcher, that I used in a gifset for this verse.  
> EDIT: beside rewriting some s1 scenes, i'll show other moments from the timeline i've created in this 'Strangers' verse.

“What's your problem with her anyway? Your family always used to welcome strays,” Jace had to voice his curiosity, unable to stay in the dark about Alec’s strange behavior around Clary any longer.

Except, he did have an inkling on why his parabatai disliked her so much, and the thought didn’t irritate him any less. How _dared_ he, after what he’d done?

“ **You were never a stray** ,” was Alec’s only reply, the question forgotten.

And there it was, that look. Alec’s eyes were boring into Jace’s with that familiar kind of intensity that caused…not butterflies, but an entire swarm of bees to start humming in Jace’s stomach. That look always made it seem as if Jace was the only thing Alec saw, and that he would ever see.

It wasn’t _fair_. Alec had no right to look at him like that anymore, as if things were still like they always were between them; as if he hadn’t broken Jace’s heart no more than two months earlier.

Jace averted his eyes. Alec had no right to treat Clary as if _she_ was the one coming in between them, either. Or to tell him he had ever belonged in his family.


	2. Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jace's pov of the aftermath of his first kiss with Alec as depicted in 'We're Not Lovers'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a discarded draft from 'We're Not Lovers', put aside when I decided to have that story be told only from Alec's pov. This still felt kinda interesting and it'd be a waste to delete it or not have it somewhere, so you get it as a drabble (300 words) in this 'missing moments' collection.

It had happened when Jace was sixteen.

He had done the unthinkable, the most stupid, _terrible_ thing he could ever do – he had acted on his _feelings_ in a moment when his hold on himself had been weaker, and now he had to pay the consequences.

Waking up with a throbbing head, a pasty mouth, and a sense of dread in his stomach, everything that had happened came back to Jace all at one. Wouldn’t it have been better if he had _forgotten_? In that moment, he couldn’t help but think so.

Reaching blindly for his bedside table, Jace was relieved when he felt his stele, which he quickly used to activate his healing rune. With his head clear, he could now devise a plan of action.

It wouldn’t be too hard, he’d just tell Alec he had been drunk and overeager. Or he could pretend he didn’t remember. Alec would easily believe him, or pretend to believe him, and everything would simply go back to the way it had always been.

Would Alec be crushed? Surely, he cared about their parabatai bond more than getting laid…

Yet, only remembering the _way_ Alec had kissed him, as if he hadn’t been waiting for anything else…how he had looked at him after they’d broken apart…Alec really _did_ like him like that. Mister Law and Order, who didn’t even have the excuse of inebriation, wouldn’t just kiss Jace like that if he didn’t think the risk was worth it. In Jace’s knowledge, Alec had never tried to…relieve his needs elsewhere. So why Jace?

Maybe it was his wishful thinking, but Jace thought he knew the answer. He felt it in the way the chords of their bond vibrated, creating a music that reached every crevice of his being.

 **Love**.


	3. Sparring was the worst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What brought Jace to kiss Alec a second time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, posting the previous drabble made me remember I also knew what Jace's pov of the pre-second kiss would be like, so I wrote it down. It gets sweaty.

It _was_ too hard.

Alec had believed his lie easily enough, yes, but Jace hadn’t predicted the… _disappointment_ he’d feel. Clearly, Alec thought the kiss to be a mistake, a _dangerous_ one at that, and he wasn’t interested in bringing it up to Jace _ever_. This was what Jace had _wanted_ …right?

Then why did he feel like jumping out of his skin, an itchy kind of _want_ burbling underneath it, every time he was in Alec’s general presence?

 **Sparring was the worst**.

The adrenaline rush, the sweat, the physical proximity…and Alec was suddenly pinned on the ground, Jace taking far too long to realize he had done that. He was too busy fixating on a drop of sweat trickling down the corner of Alec’s mouth...it’d take nothing to bent down and _lick_ it away…

Like from being burned, Jace disentangled himself from Alec and bolted out of the room. He didn’t stop, not even when he got out of the Institute, instead he started doing rounds around it. He didn’t know how _many_ he did, just that it wasn’t _working_. Stopping to catch his breath, closing his eyes, Jace realized he was still more turned on than he’d ever been in his life.

But he couldn’t – he _wouldn’t_ fuck everything up just because he was horny. Alec meant more to him than that, and giving into this _feeling_ wouldn’t be done out of love for him…

But of course! It was just lust! They were _both_ feeling it, Jace was sure the sensation came from Alec, too…they just needed to get it out of their system once and for all, and they’d be fine!

It only took him to get to Alec’s room and kiss him all in one breath to realize how wrong he’d been.  


	4. Don't make me regret this

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some fluff, set at some point during their four-years relationship as mentioned in 'We're Not Lovers'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a tumblr prompt, but it inspired me to show a (lighter-ish) glimpse of their past relationship in this 'Strangers' verse. So thank you @MorganD! I hope you like it <3 (and you thought you'd get angst, but you get fluff ;) )

“ **Don’t make me regret this**.”

“Why should you regret it? Alec, _c’mon_. It’d be fun.”

Alec smiled in that way that made crinkles appear next to his eyes, as Jace inched closer to him and interlocked their fingers together. Their runes started glowing straight away, unprompted, and this was kind of _new_ ; it meant their powers were growing stronger by the day, developing a life of their own by the simple _existence_ of their love for each other.

Clear that Alec had agreed to their secret night out, Jace tugged at Alec’s hand, and they started running at full speed, until they reached the parapet and jumped from it. The fall from the rooftop was nothing, and they were laughing not-so-silently as soon as they landed.

“Last one bottoms!” Jace teased, before he started running through the trees surrounding the Institute.

…Until he found himself being pushed against a tree, a demanding mouth claiming his own, and he kind of forgot even his own name.  

“You’re getting careless, _babe_ ,” Jace whispered against Alec’s lips, his hands pointedly squeezing Alec’s backside.

Alec pressed himself more firmly against Jace then, literally growling, “Shut up. I’ve got everything under control.”

Jace wasn’t complaining.


	5. Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hold the other from behind in a blissful moment of closeness while cooking dinner alone in the kitchen..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You might remember the quote in the summary as coming from 'We're Not Lovers'; i just *had* to 'show' that moment i described there only in passing. It is unashamedly based on a scene of a wonderful youtube series that i'm gonna link [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZmhSlk5qIg&index=7&list=PL-4pzkZvByqe_3pFPUisHE8U_WvYUOa3U) called 'The Other Love Sory'. I'm not gonna say which minute is the inspiration from, cause i recommend watching the entire thing, the entire series better still...it's really really good, do yourself the favor XD

“They get you all tired, don’t they... **baby**?”

Alec did everything in his power not to jump and mess up all his handiwork; he would _not_ lose the dinner he was making for the entire family.

But what had Jace just _called_ him? They were _not_ – that kind of couple, were they? They were better than common mundanes…

Yet, Alec could already feel a blush rise treacherously to his face, as he turned around to watch Jace casually lean against the entrance to the kitchen. Jace’s eyebrows were shot up in a suggestive, mischievous look, but his smile was genuine.

“S - stop it,” Alec stuttered, more and more flustered.  

“What?” Jace innocently asked.

Alec forcefully brought his eyes back on the food he was making, heart in his throat.

He still wasn’t _used_ to this. Casually flirting…Jace being into him... Despite the simplicity of the situation, it felt like so much…maybe _too_ much, or never _enough_ …because it couldn’t be done like _that_ , right in the middle of the Insti–

Alec froze in place as he felt Jace come to hug him from behind. A moment later, his entire body was made of shivers, sparking from where Jace’s nose was buried against the back of his neck, to where Jace’s arms had sneaked around his waist…and Alec couldn’t help but put his hands on Jace’s, interlocking them together. Closing his eyes, he could swear he felt nothing _else_ but Jace, as if they were in a bubble in space made up of only the two of them…

“Alec, is dinner ready yet?!” came Izzy’s shout.

They jumped apart with a start. Looking at each other, they could only start laughing under their breath:  _thankfully_ , because Alec would’ve rather not dwelled on just how right that had felt.


	6. Just once

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A post-breakup but pre-Clary moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday to @darknessp/lightwoodizm on tumblr! I hope you have a great day and that you enjoy this :) since you said i had made you angry at Alec in this verse, i wanted to remedy that (hopefully, or i made it worse...but the poor thing was struggling okay! XD)

“Do you think you could  _look_  me in the eyes?  **Just _once_**?”

Jace stopped midtrack his tirade about the new mission, and raised his eyes until he met hazel ones. At first, he could only feel with perfect clarity just how  _much_  he couldn’t help but love the bearer of those eyes. Then, he could only remember  _why_  he didn’t look at them directly anymore.

Jace cleared his throat, “As I was saying, the shapeshifter is collecting mundane blo–”

“ _Please_ , Jace.”

Jace’s face twitched, unable to contain the anger, and regret, that flared up in him as he was faced with the desperation in Alec’s voice.

“I – I  _miss_  you,” Alec whispered, even more brokenly.

He had first made sure that no one was around them to overhear him, though. Jace  _scoffed_ at that, and he started walking away from that hypocrisy.

“I’m only trying to  _save_  us! You  _have_  to believe me, Ja–”

Jace was already too far away. But even if he had stayed, he still wouldn’t have been ready to admit the possibility that Alec might be right, or that he’d have to rein in his pride, eventually, if he didn’t want to lose his parabatai forever.


End file.
